Episode of "The Walter Winchell Show".
It was a combination of gossip and commentary in the format of a TV Sunday-evening "news" show.


This movie is part of the collection: Classic TV

Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Classic TV; ABC; 1950's Television; Live Television; Kinescope; News; Gossip; Walter Winchell; 1953

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Reviewer: Htos1 - - April 4, 2012
Subject: early analogue
You guys have it wrong.It's not Rush you should compare him with,this is an early analogue of Drudge Report,a news aggregate,done live.Asa kid I heard the old records of the radio shows from WWII.This is VERY cool as a look into history.Thanks for uploading!

Reviewer: rpforrest - - November 17, 2010
Subject: Walter Winchell
From what I've seen/heard/read about him, he was a man who didn't give a damn of what you thought of him, and had a mission to report news and gossip the way he saw fit,he didn't kiss anyones' ass, that's for sure!
High rating for the historic content, but it was hard to watch, as someone else said, he was much better suited to radio.

Reviewer: EJEFFREY - - November 17, 2010
Subject: Winchell as broadcaster
Despite all the slams that Winchell was a horrible broadcaster just remember that he had one of the top 10 radio shows with the same delivery all during the 1940s . And yes he was a rabid anti-Communist but he ALSO was a rabid , early anti_Nazi/Fascist all during the late '30s and pre war 1940's.. He loved Pres. Franklin Roosevelt, got a Navy commission during WW2 and frequently advised the chief exec.
Rated for historical value and the necessity for later generations to learn and understand what came before..as I've done.

Reviewer: Earlon - - February 21, 2010
Subject: A catalog site for Classic TV shows
If you like Classic TV from of the 50's, I found a catalog site that makes it easy to find and watch episodes streaming from Archive.org at:

http://www.solie.org/ClassicTV

There are currently over 400 individual episodes of about 30 different programs, and the site is growing day by day. Check it out!

Reviewer: 167656 - - June 12, 2009
Subject: Video Killed This Radio Star
What hasn't yet been mentioned is that TV finally destroyed Winchell's career. On radio his rants and Morse code segues played very well and he was a very powerful figure, who wielded a great deal of power as he saw fit. TV revealed him as a silly little guy in a fedora looking foolish and, likely, spewing more venom than imparting truth. His TV show by the way tanked, it was never popular. He had a nice career ender however as the Voice Over for the Untouchables, which put him back off camera where he belonged.

Reviewer: Glen Hills - - June 10, 2009
Subject: TV Killed the Radio Star
This is a real gem for those who can get past the breathless, machine gun delivery of the news hot off the teletype machine. If you listen carefully, he really did ask whether the talks to end France's colonial rule in Indochina would lead to the US inheriting the war. The broadcast was nearly 11 years before the Gulf of Tonkin incident. No small thing for a network newsman to take on big tobacco in 1953 either. Paranoia about communism? Well maybe, but the Rosenbergs really were spys and there really was a Stalin. Anyone who survived the W years should understand how national hysteria works. Mr. and Mrs. America will always be suckers for bogeymen.

Reviewer: Robin_1990 - - June 10, 2009
Subject: Meh
I personally found this program to be rather annoying, though really, this is exactly what FOX News broadcasts will look like 50 years from now. At least this rubbish features nice commercials.

Does anyone know how "popular" this program was? After all, ABC was a distant forth in the ratings at the time (heck, even DuMont had better ratings at this point).

Reviewer: mstamper - - June 9, 2009
Subject: Hysterical!
It's so funny watching him bang on the telegraph key for effect. Dah,da-dah-dah, da-da-da-dah - it certainly adds an air of urgency to the whole thing. He has this wonderful machine-gun delivery style too. It would be a mistake to call this "news", although there was some news in it. It's more like a 30 minute rant. Rush Limbaugh would definitely have him as a guest. Winchell obviously hated liberals. Most of his news "stories" sound like indictments (for treason) and harangues. I could imagine him ringside reporting on the execution of the Rosenbergs - and cheering. I shudder to think that America was this paranoid in 1953.

Reviewer: Noah 8-? - - June 9, 2009
Subject: Drivel? Commentary? Opinionated? You Betchum, Red Ryder
If the good folks viewing this compare it to today's fare... Well here in Georgia there is a talking heads program called 'the Georgia Gang' on Sunday mornings.
By comparison this Walter Wenchell fellow could be cannonized (declared a saint with his own celebrations and holiday).

Noah 8-?

Reviewer: matt1900 - - June 8, 2009
Subject: interesting
interesting to see this example of Walter's show. But to tell the truth it is awful even by 1953 standards. Who back then would watch such drivel every week.

Reviewer: Tenor madman - - June 8, 2009
Subject: ...More like the Matt Drudge of 1953!
Another incredible artifact of primitive American television can be viewed here! A big thank you for the opportunity to see Walter Winchell in action in what must surely be seen as a representative sample of his work. The commercials and the station ID are also noteworthy.

TM

Reviewer: Retro_Saiyan - - June 8, 2009
Subject: Bad Show, Wonderful Commercials
I give this program 5/5 purely because of the wonderful commercials and Network ID. These watch commercials are a must see. The ABC Network ID is a rare and interesting sight too.

Reviewer: Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid - - June 8, 2009
Subject: Wow
Annoying, stupid, painful and pathetic. Quite possibly the worst show I've ever seen from this period, and one of the worst shows I've seen from ANY decade of the 20th Century. Even "My Mother The Car" was better than this junk!

Reviewer: Karltonthedoorman - - June 8, 2009
Subject: Yikes
This is the Rush Limbaugh of his day.
He was very powerful and able to shape politics and show business.
Thanks to the person who posted this.